Newborn resident of Bashkortostan was shown live during Direct Line with Vladimir Putin

UFA, 15 June 2017. /Bashinform News Agency, Gulfiya Akulova/. A newborn resident of Bashkortostan was shown live during the Direct Line with Vladimir Putin. This happened in the process of live stand-up from the Ufa hospital "Mother and Child". Millions of spectators saw a happy father with a newborn son, who had just been born in the clinic. The head of the family Artem Sukharev happily shared with the audience that the birth was successful, it was his second son, born with weight of 3800 g and height of 54 cm, and they wanted to call him Mikhail.

The obstetrician of the hospital Ruslan Garifullin asked a question to Vladimir Putin directly from the corridors of the delivery department. He asked the head of state about plans to raise the birth rate.

"We are afraid that the birth rate will continue to decline. We are interested in continuation of the maternity capital program and whether it is worth hoping for payment of childcare allowances after 1.5 years of age", the doctor from Ufa addressed to Putin.

"We observed a 50 percent decrease in the birth rate in the 1990-s, comparable to the losses in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45. This phenomenon was an echo of that war, consequences of the USSR collapse, decline in the standard of living of citizens and unemployment. Moreover, such a decline in the birth rate repeats every 25 years. And now we see that the number of young women of childbearing age has significantly decreased. A whole set of incentive programs should be introduced to improve the situation. A mechanism of maternity capital payment was quite successful. It has already been received by more than 7 million families; half of them used these means. Payments for 3 children have been introduced in a number of regions with a complex demographic situation and the birth rate is increasing there. I believe that it is also necessary to stimulate birth of the first child in young mothers, the second and subsequent children in older mothers. The problem with lack of places in kindergartens is solved by 98 percent, but there are no nurseries, also necessary for young parents. A meeting with the Government is scheduled for today on this subject, where all the necessary measures will be proposed. I must admit that this is costly, but it is future of our country", said Vladimir Putin.